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Agenda July 8
Open mic Sharing new ideas
Recap - Create a tutorial Jing post on sites

Create a Reflection on teaching Learning Post to Posterous

Organizing & Sharing RSS

July 9 Proof of concept



Agenda July 7:
iPad share an idea or app
Searching
Google for Collaboration
Sandbox time

Teaching Zack to Think: Developing Critical Thinking Skills

Too many students are not sure how to separate fact from fiction on the Internet. The Internet can provide any version of the truth to support almost any belief. We can teach students how to read the “grammar” of the Internet and to apply strategies to validate information on a website. This popular session provides step-by-step teaching tips that help students and teachers think critically about Internet information and improve their online search strategies.


Searching

Activity - Basic Google Search vs. Advanced Search Groups assigned to research topics using basic search and then advanced search. 100 tips

Effective Search Practices

*Activity: Use advanced search techniques to find the following:

-Ozone depletion in Australia from a government website (Not sure, try this.)

-A presentation file that is related to your subject matter and from universities in the U.S. (Not sure, try this.)

-A black and white image that's labeled for reuse to download on to your computer. (Not sure, go here.)

See also www.morguefile.com for creative commons images.

Find another class doing the same novel study from another country, get your kids to see what that class is doing, engage with that class in a debate. e.g. Wuthering heights

Conduct a search site:sch.uk "Wuthering Heights" or site:ac.za "Wuthering Heights" to Compare the impact of Wuthering Heights in different cultures.


Validating Resources - Get REAL: 4 Steps to Validating Information

*Activity: Use the REAL Steps to validate these websites.


Website Validation (REAL)


get_real.png
get_real.png
get_real.png

Read the URL:

  • What is the base URL (domain and extension)?

  • Country Codes - http://goes.gsfc.nasa.gov

  • Is the site sponsored/hosted by a trusted organization?

  • Is it a personal page?*

  • Is it published using a free web hosting service?*

 Examine the content:

  • Does the site appear useful for your purpose?

  • Does the information appear accurate and complete?

  • How does it compare to other resources on the same topic?

  • Are sources cited? Can you verify key information?

  • What is the purpose of the site (inform, persuade, entertain?)

  • When was the site last updated?*

  • How has the site changed over time?

Wayback Machine - http://archive.com

  • Are there ads on the page? Does that affect the credibility?

Ask about the author

  • Who wrote the site? Do they provide credentials?

  • Look for "About." Google the author/owner.

  • Is there a way to contact the author?

  • Who owns the site? Easy Whois -http://www.easywhois.com/

Look at the links:

  • What does the page or site link to (credible/trusted sources)?

  • What links to this site?

Use the Link: command (Yahoo, AltaVista, Google);http://www.backlinkwatch.com
*The implications/importance of these criteria will vary depending on the topic and purpose.

REAL Video Series (Brian Mull) - http://vimeo.com/8579858

Sites to Examine


Dig in to Google

  • Google Search Features - http://www.google.com/help/features.html ; Basics Help | Advanced Help
  • Advanced Search
    • Narrow your Search: Phrase | Boolean (AND/OR/NOT) | Domain/Extension | Filetype | Date
      (EXAMPLE site: American Memory - http://memory.loc.gov / Harlem Renaissance)
      (EXAMPLE phrase "to be or not to be" shakespeare
      (EXAMPLE filetype: "very hungry caterpillar" filetype:pdf cut out)
      (EXAMPLE boolean hamster AND/OR gerbil "class pet")
      (EXAMPLE domain .gov .uk .
      (EXAMPLE stemming
      (EXAMPLE related terms

    • Advanced Operator Cheat Sheet - http://www.google.com/help/cheatsheet.html
    • U. S. Top-level Domains: .com, ,org, .net, .edu, .gov, .mil)
    • URL Country Codes - http://goes.gsfc.nasa.gov
  • ACTIVITY: Do a search for your favorite (or curricular) topic and see how far you can improve the results using the techniques above.
  • SEARCH TIP: Include the "thing you are looking for" with your search terms, e.g. "lesson plan, " "timeline" or "podcast."
  • Google Search Options Panel: News | Books | Videos | Related Searches | Timeline | Wonderwheel
  • Reframing Google Search Options Joyce Valenza http://www.techlearning.com/blogs/29666
  • Directory - http://www.google.com/intl/en/dirhelp.html
    Use Google search technology to search the human-edited Open Directory

Search Smarter


What About Wikipedia?


Web Literacy & Critical Thinking Resources




Tips: Get around blocked sites. If you are having problems getting around a blocked site, just type “cache:website address” with website address being the address of the blocked site to use Google’s cached copy to get where you are going.

- * is the "wild card". For example, if you are using advanced search and you want to search k12 schools across the US, use k12.*.us in the Search within a site or domain: field.